Christmas Light
by thecrazyfanficcer
Summary: [ONESHOT] It's Christmas morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the snow is sparkling, the people are rejoicing. It would be perfect, except for one thing. Danny Fenton has disappeared.


**A Pikachu is standing in front of a pacing silhouette of a figure. The shape's luminous green eyes pierce into the ground as it paces impatiently. This is Thecrazyfanficcer, the genderless author self-insert of the story whose introduction you're reading.**

**"What's with your summaries?" Pikasqueaks asks, watching the considerably odd fanficcer pacing. "They're so weird." A pause. "It subtracts from your reviews, you know."**

**TCF gives him a look. "1) Do I look like I care about reviews?"**

**Pikasqueaks smirks"Yes, more than enough."**

**Fanficcer's arm moves seconds later, a whimpering thunder mouse is clutching his arm and squealing with pain. "2) Reviews or not, I'd write anyway; ****Pika, I have 200+ fanfics to write here."**

**"You say you have to write **_**how**_** many?"**

**But Fanficcer is suddenly indifferent. "On with the weird Christmas Danny Phantom fic, peoples! Now, let's read!"**

**"And review!" interjects Pikasqueaks with a grin, sticking a finger up into the air.**

**TCF glowers pointedly at him. "No, you don't have to," it growls, eyes focused, riveted, on Pikasqueaks. "Now, pardon me while I chase this guy into the sunrise for uttering such obscenities."**

**Pounding feet resonate on the floor as the annoyed fake reader rolls their eyes and commences reading.**

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_A ghost shining, streaking the black night;_

_Hear this heroic soul's plight._

_He may seem dark, he may have an air of danger –_

_But to Amity Park, this one is no stranger._

_For he is the ghost boy who will save us all –_

_He is Danny Phantom, and will for us will never fall._

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"Hey, Jazz! JAZZ!"

The strains of holiday music tinkling faintly in her ears, Jazmine – more commonly known as Jazz – Fenton turned around. She wasn't surprised to see Tucker Foley and Sam Manson coming forward on the sleek, sparkling snow behind her.

"Hi," Jazz acknowledged glumly as her brother's friends appeared at her side. "What is it, guys?"

"We just wanted to cheer you up," Tucker replied, mittened hands empty of his habitual PDA unit for once. "You look so sad and lonely."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's watching you…uh…somewhere," Sam, local Goth now bundled in a fluff-lined red snow suit and headband, added. She drew near to Jazz and gently placed hand on her shoulder, cheeks reddening faintly. "Trust me – he knows."

"I hope you're right." Jazz fiddled with the poinsettia decked festively in her cascade of orange hair. "I mean, he's been gone for three weeks."

Early that December, Jazz's fifteen year-old brother, Danny, had gone missing; no one knew what had happened to the youngest Fenton. One Saturday, their bumbling father, Jack, had awoken to find Danny's bed fully made, empty – as though he'd never fallen asleep. Since then, Jazz, Tucker, and Sam, as well as Jack and his wife Maddie, had been a loss for what to do.

But maybe that wasn't so strange in itself… For Danny, you see, was a ghost.

Not a ghost in the sort of dead-person-who-haunts-the-earth-to-take-revenge-on-their-killer kind of way; it was more in a superhero kind of way. It came with everything: alter ego, parents who – despite being actual ghost hunters – knew only one of your identities, scientific experiment gone insane, hectic lifestyle, and all the rest. Long ago – well, not that long ago, actually; it just seemed that way – Danny had snuck into one of his parents' machines and his molecules got all rearranged. Next thing you knew he could flip from beam-firin' baddy-bustin' ghost to standard highschool freshman without any trouble – provided, of course, that anyone aside from his friends and, later on, his sister were in the vicinity.

Jazz, Jack and Maddie had teamed up with Tucker and Sam to post memos all over Amity Park to find out where Danny had gone a week after his disappearance. To no avail – Danny was missing, and nothing they did could change that.

It had affected everyone at Casper High, too –

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_Tucker was roused from a daydream involving his PDA, a girl (not Sam) and the Nasty Burger by the sound of raucous sobbing. He stopped short, feeling the bump of the Goth girl behind him._

"_Listen," Sam instructed Tucker, pointing._

"_What is it?" he whispered furiously, but Sam just grinned nastily._

_There knelt Paulina, a popular yet shallow cheerleader who Danny _just so happened_ to have a crush on. Paulina, though, only like-liked Danny Phantom – and obviously not knowing his true identity, she hated the normal one. So it wasn't much of a surprise to see Paulina crying her eyes out in front of her locker, where a shrine dedicated to Amity Park's only ghost boy had been built inside. She dissolved into tears time and time again, visibly wracked by his disappearance. Tucker felt a gigantic grin curling his features at the sight. It wasn't that he didn't miss his best friend – it was more that, like this, Paulina was – well, you know – actually kind of funny. (That didn't stop him from wantng to date her, but hey! Humor was humour.)_

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Now the Fentons, the Mansons, and the Foleys were spending Christmas and Hanukkah together in light of Danny's disappearance. _It's a good thing, too, _Sam acknowledged as she and Tucker aided the teary Jazz to her feet. The orange-haired sixteen year-old leaned on them; they helped her to where a pine tree had been decorated near the edge of the Fentons' backyard. The tree was a beautiful little thing, standing proud on the shining white snow. _Danny's been gone for I don't know how long._

Sam felt her mouth drop open along with those of the other two as they approached the tree.

The festive red and gold balls that adorned the pine's turquoise needles sparkled under the glowing rays of moonlight emanating from a gap between the wispy gray clouds. The flooding pale-yellow bathed their features in pools of bright relief, but not only them. Every pine needle, flecked delicately with crystalline white snow; every fold and crease of their jackets and Jazz's new headband; every point on the crescent-like five-pointed star perched atop the Christmas; every lock of hair on their heads; every feature of the three bodies huddling together, comforting each other under the moonlight. Sam took in all this and more as they – despite their best instincts – pulled together in a tight, shuddering hug. Indeed, it was as if they were throwing the shackles of the highschool popularity contest away from them without any trace of humility.

"He's – hic – gone," Tucker sobbed tragically, jade-green eyes sparkling with tears, waves in a deep green sea. The moonlight caught his reflection, beaming it onto the ground; now the snow was twinkling as sadly as his eyes.

"W-we'll never see him again!" howled Jazz as she was inwardly swept by a tidal wave of grief.

"Y-yeah…" was all Sam could stutter out, her cheeks reddening as she felt to steady mittened hands comfortingly stroking her shoulder.

"W-we have to say g-goodbye…"

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Danny grinned, suddenly and evilly.

The ghost boy was floating a few kilometres above Amity Park in full phantom mode, and from where he was hovering he could perfectly see the figures of his best friends and big sister together in his backyard. They were engulfed by a wave of shuddering sobs as they pulled each other in a pain-wracked, heart-wrenched embrace.

Now Danny sniffled in spite of himself as a tear slid down his face and dripped down his nose. _I've got to help them, _he thought, running a hand through his bleach-white hair before stopping dead in his tracks, green eyes going up to the star-strewn sky. "Wait a minute. I _am_ here to help them," he said aloud to reassure himself; then, he took a deep breath before floating closer.

The moon was full and bright tonight, a glowing pale-yellow ball spiralling its rays down to the sparkling snow below. Everything was basked in that unearthly light, from the snow glittering on the pine tree's needles to the gemlike earrings pierced into Jazz's ears; everything was thrown into moon-milky, shadowed relief. "I've gotta do this," Danny muttered, lowering himself so that he was drifting just above and behind the three of them.

Remembering how angry he used to be every holiday season and equally recalling the Christmas truce that every ghost celebrated on that special day in December, Danny had decided to go against his past self and take a time among the ghosts. In light of the festive oncoming holiday, they had agreed to celebrate for three weeks instead of a single day, as well as obeying a wish he had in mind; they all remembered the Ghost Writer, who had taught Danny a lesson when it came to the yuletide season. Then, once they had complied to his will, Danny had bought presents for his friends and whole family as a surprise and, whether they would realize it not, it was a message: he would never be angry during the holidays again. Yep, getting the ghosts to do what he wanted and leave him alone for three whole weeks had been hard, but it had been worth the effort.

"Merry Christmas, you guys," Danny grinned as he unclipped a bag from his handy gadget belt and hoisted it over his shoulder, which was then followed by a cylindrical gray and green thermos. It was locked mechanically as, with a content smile, the ghost kid did his thing.

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"Oh my gosh! He's back! He's back!"

"Who's back, sweetie?" Maddie Fenton, mother of two and local ghost hunter, appeared in the back doorway of their house. Behind her, framed by early morning's light, still with his nightcap on and teddy bear clutched in one hand, appeared other ghost hunter, tecchie Jack Fenton.

"Yeah, I just see you three," he added now, right before the Sam and Tucker's eyes in the vicinity fled to the teddy bear – staring, ever staring. "Some people are so cruel," he muttered, stuffed animal dropping as his eyes flashed downward in defeat.

"Look!" Jazz jumped for joy as she pointed to the happily snoozing figure curled up under the Christmas tree. "Danny's back!"

They both took some time to digest it, then Maddie – totally speechless for once – blinked. "What?"

"He's back, alive and kickin'." Grinning, Tucker pointed to the sleeping one as Danny's leg went up involuntarily in unison with the statement.

"Well, shouldn't we wake him up?" Maddie moved forward, but three figures quickly barred the way.

"He needs his rest, Mom." Jazz. (Jazz sure was a responsible teenage overachiever.)

"He needs to um… recharge." Tucker. (Trust the master of all non-ghost-related technology himself to think up something weird like that.)

"Yeah. If he doesn't get enough sleep, it's bad karma." Sam. (Goths, unlike certain people, make sense. Not that time, though.)

"All right, then, but what's this?" Jack approached the snoring halfa and bent down, picking up something that had been tucked between his chest and folded arms. He frowned, turning it over between his customary black gloves. "What's a Thermos doing here?"

"There's a note," Sam supplied helpfully, unpeeling the sheet from the tubular canister. "Let's read it."

_Dear Mom, Dad, Jazz, Tucker and Sam,_

_Sorry I went missing. I left because I had to get presents for you guys and wanted it to be a surprise. When I came back, I met the ghost boy. He gave me the Fenton Thermos –_

"Yeaah!" shouted Jack randomly, jumping for joy as he pumped his arms up and down. "Danny Phantom uses MY technology!"

"Uh," began Maddie, "Jack--"

"Fine, OUR technology!"

_it's been filled with every ghost in Amity Park now – and told me to keep it safe. But it's pretty weird – he reminded me of someone, but I can't put my finger on who it was. Anyway… These presents are for you guys._

_Yours truly, _

_Danny_

"It's like Christmas!" Jack cheered as Maddie popped open the bag that had been splayed beside Danny's back; its contents spilled onto the snow.

"Silly, it _is _Christmas." Maddie planted a kiss on her husband's cheek, placing one hand on his shoulder as she led him back to the house. When the teens didn't move, they both turned around to face them. "Aren't you coming?"

"Give us a bit of time," Sam answered Maddie as she patted the Goth teddy bear everyone knew was hers before embarrasedly withdrawing her hand. "We'll bring the presents in, too."

"All right, then." Maddie was curios but didn't press it.Jack hadn't even noticed; he was busy appreciatively sniffing the bakery smells that wafted in from the kitchen.

As soon as both parents had departed, the three of them got to – weirdly enough – giggling. "They're so naïve," chortled Tucker, shaking Danny to rouse him.

"They're ghost hunters," cried Jazz as her younger brother stirred, "but they don't know yet!"

"Yeah, you're weird, you know," Sam agreed, kneeling down beside Danny as Amity Park's only ghost boy awoke and heaved himself to his feet. "'He reminded me of someone.' Yeah, right."

"Now, c'mon!" Tucker licked his lips as he bounded for the door. "It's time for Christmas cookies!"

"Hold on a sec." Danny turned to the audience -- er, readers -- and winked roguishly. "Happy holidays, everyone."

The early morning sunrays seemed to strengthen as the four shadowy, fleeting figures running inside to eat small cakes made from stiff, sweet dough rolled and sliced or dropped by spoonfuls on a large, flat pan and baked (courtesy of dictionary(dot)com) were basked in its pale, earthly, Christmas light.

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**Says Pikasqueaks: "Whadja know, the characters were consistently OOC. (Tucker should be asking Paulina out, not laughing at her!)"**

**TCF, of course, answers back. "And yet, whenever I **_**think**_** the people are out of character, they turn out not to be. Weird, ne? (Plus Tucker was grinning, not laughing!)"**

**"At any rate," begins a tired Pikasqueaks, turning back to Fanficcer, "just how many stories have you got left to write in this category?"**

**It produces a **_**Book of Thecrazyfanficcer**_** out of nowhere.** "**Actually, this list here says almost twenty, but I know I'm gonna end up with more than that."**

**He graons loudly. "You **_**idiot..."**_

**"Anyhow," grinned TCF suddenly, turning to the crowd, "Have a nice rest of the day, y'all!"**


End file.
